Society of Classical Poets is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to reviving traditional and classical poetry. It publishes poetry,essays and reviews online and in its annual print journal.The Society was established in 2012 by Evan Mantyk, an English teacher, and Joshua Philipp, a journalist. It runs several poetry contests.
History
The Society was established in 2012. Since then it has held public events for the promotion of traditional metrical poetry.On June 17, 2019, the Society of Classical Poets held a Symposium at the Princeton Club in Manhattan, where Society president Evan Mantyk stressed "the need to bring poetry out of the narrow halls of academia.” In 2020, the Society’s online symposium featured A.M. Juster, a major formalist poet as well as the former Social Security Administration Commissioner under the Obama and Bush administrations.
Controversy
In January 2017, the Society released a poem titled "Pibroch for the Domhnall", as the official inaugural poem for President Donald J. Trump.Two lines in the poem described departing president Barack Obama and his immigration policy. “Lest a murderous horde, for whom hell is the norm,/ Should threaten our lives and our nation deform”; another attacks women and Hillary Clinton, if not by name: “Whilst hapless old harridans flapping their traps/ Teach women to look and behave like us chaps.” It was criticized for "the pseudo-medieval-ism and generating a fantasy of white ethnic nationalism...".